“Where are you?” Gemma’s troubled tone came through the phone.

 

Jax sat up straight, immediately alarmed. “At TM, what’s going on?”

“Get to Leila’s. Now.”

 

Before she’d even hung up, he was running out of the clubhouse and onto his bike. A million things were rushing through his head as to what could’ve happened. Leila wasn’t hurt. The phone call would’ve went a lot differently but something was definitely wrong.

 

He pulled up to her house, almost dropping his bike as he rushed to climb off before running inside. Gemma waited in the front hall, arms crossed over her chest as she paced back and forth.

 

“This way.” She said shortly, leading him up the stairs to the nursery.

 

His stomach turned as he walked into the room. The crib had been shattered. The dresser had been overturned. Drawers scattered around the room. On the corner wall were photos of him. Some were the same as the ones Leila had received. Some were of him from his childhood. Others of him and the club. All of them had his face scratched out with a large X. This was the last fucking straw.

 

“I’d just gotten off the phone with Leila. I was dropping some things off for the nursery when I saw this. She has no idea.”  Gemma broke the silence. “Who did this?”

 

“ATF.”

 

“Why? Why here?”

 

“He’s been following Leila, even left an envelope of pictures from my run to Nevada on her windshield. Tara. He thinks she’s running back to me.”

 

“That stupid bitch.” Gemma shook her head angrily.

 

“How is any of this her fault?” He asked sharply.

 

“You know damn well how this is her fault Jackson. Look at the goddamn room around you and tell me this would’ve happened if she wasn’t here?”

 

He knew. He knew all too well that this was because of her but right now all he wanted to do was put a bullet in between Kohn’s eyes. He’d messed with Tara for way too long. Now he was fucking with Leila in their own home. In their son’s nursery.

 

“This guy’s dead.” He promised. More for his own satisfaction than for Gemma. “Mom, Leila can’t find out about this. Have a prospect come clean it up.”

 

She nodded, unsurely but he ran out to his bike, dialing Hale as he started the bike.

 

“Yeah. Kohn’s still in town.”

 

“I know. He’s at Flyod’s. I’m taking care of it.”

 

Bingo. Jax tried. He’d tried letting law enforcement handle this but they failed miserably. As soon as he hung up the phone he was flying through the streets to get to Flyod’s on main and right there in the chair was Kohn. He couldn’t explain the rush of anger that went through him at that moment, but in an instant he was grabbing Kohn off of the chair and throwing him from the chair to the mirror, slamming him hard before pulling him up again.

 

“You want to go to war with me, you sick piece of shit!?”

 

He threw Kohn through the store window, shattering the glasses to pieces before stepping out to jump on top of him again. His fists uncontrollably slamming against the man’s face.

 

Feeling a sharp pain in his leg, Jax screamed and looked to see that Kohn had stabbed him in the leg with a pair of scissors. This motherfucker had just stabbed him! He grabbed his head, slamming it into the ground before his fists found his face again.

 

Sure enough, Hale showed up and pulled the two apart. Bringing them to the station. Jax was put in a room for questioning but he saw Kohn being pulled into Hale’s office. About a half hour went by when Unser showed up followed by none other than Stahl.

 

Unser took the seat across from him but Stahl just looked over her paperwork, her eyes flipping back between the folder then at him.
“So barber says you came in for a haircut. Agent Kohn attacked you with a pair of scissors, so you pushed him through a glass plate window. Self defense.”

 

She looked at him smugly.

 

“That’s what Floyd saw, then I guess that’s what happened.” Jax nodded.

 

Stahl smiled, and it was one of the creepiest things he’d ever seen.

 

“That’s fantastic.” She said as she took a seat next to him. She cleared her throat and locked eyes with Unser before whipping her head back to him, her face serious. “Tell me. Are they all just afraid of you or convinced that you’re just a necessary evil?”

 

“You charging me?” He looked her in the eye, cutting her little interrogation short.

 

“No charges.”

 

Unser answered and Jax stood, gathering the papers on the table.

 

“Tell me.” She spoke again. “Why does Kohn have a hard-on for you?”

“You know why.”
“You’re right. I do. Tara Knowles. The charming ingenue. High School sweethearts right? She fears for her life, so she comes back home to the only man she knows loves her enough to protect – “

 

Jax laughed and her eyebrows rose up in question.

“You think you know it all don’t you June.”

 

Stahl smirked, looking up at the tall blonde. “How does Leila feel about all of this? Princess can’t be too happy about the love of your life being back in Charming, let alone you attacking a fed for her.”

 

“You done?”

 

“Yeah, she’d done.” Unser nodded, and Jax limped towards the door with him before turning around to face Stahl again. “Oh, speaking of Leila. I should let her know you’re the one back in town to deal with Kohn. “

 

Her face stiffened and her eyes hardened with hate and fear but the smirk never left her face. That was all Jax needed to see before he headed out.

---

 

 

Leila’s heels clicked against the hard tile of the hospital. After her father’s debate this morning, all she wanted to do was see Abel. She still had a few other meetings to go for the day but she wasn’t going to let the whole day go by without seeing his beautiful smiling face.

 

“Hey pretty boy.”

 

She said softly as she entered his room. Her fingers traced the glass and she could see his tiny hand reaching out for her. It brought a tear to her eyes as she leaned in closer, making silly faces at the glass just to see him smiling.

 

“Are you sure you’re not his mother?” The nurse joked as she walked in to check his chart.

 

Leila smiled sadly and shook her head. Her eyes not leaving the baby. “I wish I was.”

 

“Do you want to hold him?”

 

Her head shot up and the nurse smiled at the young woman.

 

“Can I?” She asked nervously.

 

“He’s been doing a lot better. Yes.”

 

“Wait. I want his father here too. Will you come back in a few?”

 

“Of course.” Sarah smiled and left the room immediately calling Jax’s phone.

 

“Hey baby, are you busy?”

 

“No, not really babe, what’s going on?”

 

“Can you come to St. Thomas? They’re letting us hold Abel. I don’t want to do it without you.”

 

“Shit, really?” She heard his surprised voice coming through the phone.

 

“Yeah baby. Please hurry, I only have until 4 before my next meeting.”

 

“I’ll be right there, and Lei?”

 

“Yeah babe?”

 

“I love you.”

 

She smiled, still twirling her fingers against the glass.

 

“I love you baby.”

 

The phone clicked off and Leila took a seat next to the baby. Humming softly, she kept her hand pressed against the glass as Abel kept reaching.

 

“Soon, baby. I promise.”

 

Jax showed up within 10 minutes of them hanging up the phone. He was out of breath from running but when she took a closer look, he was limping.

 

“Jesus Christ, what happened?” She asked, standing up to see walk over to him.

“I’m fine babe. When can we hold him?”
His large arms wrapped around her body and she leaned up to kiss him excitedly. Her mind couldn’t focus on anything other than the excitement of being able to finally hold him.

 

“As soon as Sarah gets here.” She smiled, pushing the nurse call button by the crib. “I’m so excited baby.”

 

“I am too.” He leaned down to kiss the back of her head as she turned to look at Abel. “I can’t believe we can finally touch our son.”

 

The words caught her attention and she turned around slowly, waiting for him to correct his error but he didn’t. His eyes just locked on hers and his calloused hands cupped her cheeks.

 

“Yeah.” He nodded his head, answering her unspoken question. “Our son. Wendy might’ve given birth to him, but I’ve never seen someone step up to the plate like you have. Not just as my Old Lady but as his mom. I don’t know how I could ever repay you for everything, babe.”

 

Leila listened closely, her eyes burning with tears she refused to let fall but she smiled. Smiled brightly as she wrapped her arms around him tightly, burying her face into his chest. “You just did.” she whispered.

 

“Alright lovebirds, are you ready?”

 

Sarah said as she entered the room. Both nodded vigorously and watched as the nurse carefully removed his monitors and wrapped him up carefully in a blanket before walking over to them. Leila looked up at Jax, thinking he’d want to hold his son first, but he could see her waiting anxiously and motioned her forwards.

 

Holding her arms out, Sarah carefully placed the baby in her arms, making sure his head was supported before smiling at the young couple and walking out of the room to give them privacy.

 

She smiled, holding the infant. He managed to get his hand free and instantly reached for her lips before moving on to grab her finger. As his eyes looked into hers, his tiny fingers curling around hers, she knew in that moment that she was in love. Not just with Jax. Not just with the fact that they had a family. No. She was hopelessly in love with this perfect baby boy. It was a love that reached deep into her soul and took her breath away. She knew in that moment that it was no longer about her or even Jax. It was about Abel. About his happiness, his health, his soul. She may not have been the one to bring him into this world, but she’d be the one to see him through it.

 

Jax’s hands slid onto her hips, holding her body against his as he stood behind her, peeking over her shoulder at his son. This was it. Soon, they’d be home. The three of them and there was nothing in the world that would rip her family away from her.

 

Gemma walked through the hallway to see Tara staring into the glass window to Abel’s room. When she peaked in she saw the little family, gathered together with Leila holding the baby and Jax holding Leila. It was heartwarming and the fact that Tara’s tear filled eyes were locked on them too gave her all the more joy. She walked up behind the woman, hands on her hips.

 

“You see that?” She said. “That’s what a real family looks like. That right there is love. To think, that could’ve been you holding my grandson. Thank god it wasn’t.” Tara’s jaw dropped as Gemma walked passed her to enter the room, joining the family.

 

Leila saw her coming in passed the baby to her arms and Jax smiled proudly at his boy. They were in awh. Unable to get a word out as Gemma brushed Abel’s hair back gently, before he gave out a loud cry.

 

“Oh, looks like he’s already attached to mommy.” She said loud enough for Tara to hear. Leila gladly accepted the baby back. Taking a seat and just staring down into his beautiful eyes.

 

---

 

 

After leaving the hospital, Gemma had gone to redo the entire nursery all over again. Scrubbing it top to bottom to get the smell of piss out while a prospect fixed the dresser and crib. Leila was going to be working late and as promised, she wasn’t going to find out about this.

 

Everything was done by 9 when Jax finally got home. He walked to the nursery and took a look around before turning to Gemma who was sitting in the chair smoking a cigarette. He gave her a kiss on the cheek before taking her cigarette to take a quick inhale.

 

“Where’s Lei?”

 

“She was stopping by the hospital again when she got out of work. Your leg okay?” She asked.

 

“Yeah.”  He nodded his head as he limped over to lean against the crib.

 

“Where’s the doctor?”

 

He looked up at her, confused by her tone before shrugging his shoulders.

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“Where are you going with that Jax?”

 

“No where.” He said firmly.

 

“I’ve seen the way you look at her. The way she looks at you and Leila. She’s still got ties in you.”

 

“I don’t give a shit what you think. What I do – what Tara does. It’s none of your business.”

 

“No, cleaning up piss and broken cribs. That’s my business?” She asked getting increasingly upset. “What about Leila, huh? This isn’t her business? You saw the way she looked at that baby. My grandson deserves a damn good mother and Leila is just that. You can’t have both of them Jackson!”

 

“Look. Thank you for doing this but this house. My relationships. This kid – it’s not your burden. It’s mine.” He sighed as he took a pull from the cigarette. “I would never do anything to hurt Leila. I don’t care what you think, whatever was between Tara and I is dead. I got a good old lady by my side and it’s a real problem that you think I’d be stupid enough to fuck that up.”

 

Gemma stood, grabbing her phone from the table. “I’ll believe that when you do.” She said as she walked out.